PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday summoned the secretary of the national health services ministry to respond to petitions challenging the non-issuance of notifications of the recognition of some private and public sector medical colleges despite the approval of the Pakistan Medical and Dental College.

Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Abdul Shakoor fixed June 21 for the next hearing into the petitions asking the secretary to appear in person and explain position on the matter.

Among the petitioners are Rehman College of Dentistry Peshawar, Institute of Dental Surgery Kohat, Alliance Health Care and others.

Qazi Mohammad Anwar, Abdul Lateef Afridi and Barrister Waqar, counsel for the petitioners, said their clients ranmedical institutions in line with the requisite standards and that the PMDC had approved their recognition after necessary inspection.

They said the PMDC had approved recognition to the Rehman College of Dentistry, which was a private college, several months ago whereas to the Institute of Dental Surgery, which is a publicsector college affiliated with Khyber Medical University, was approved for recognition around two years ago.

The counsel contended that despite the approval given by the PMDC, which was the relevant authority for that purpose under the law, the secretary national health services had not been issuing the required notification.

They added the delay on part of federal government in issuing the said notifications had been affecting the studies of hundreds of students several of whom hadcompleted their studies.

Meanwhile, the bench also allowed an application of around 47 students of Institute of Dental Surgery Kohat for including them as parties in these cases.

Muzamil Khan, the lawyer for students, said his clients had completed their studies but the government had not notified the recognition of their institute and thus, making it hard for them to do house job.

REPLY SOUGHT: The bench sought the response of the provincial home and Auqaf and religious affairs department to a petition jointly filed by around 507 prayerleaders to seek orders for the provincial government to tal(e control of all mosques in the province and meet their expenses.

Amjad Ali, lawyer for the petitioners, said there were hundreds of thousands of mosques in the country, including hundreds in the province.He said under Article 31 of the Constitution, the government would take steps to enable Muslims to live life in accordance with the fundamental principles of Islam and to provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

The lawyer said in 1981, a policy was made under which the control of mosques in Islamabad was taken over by the government but no such policy was adopted in KP by the government.

He added that the issue of religious extremism and sectarianism could be addressed if the government met expenses of mosques and took their control.

The lawyer said it was the responsibility of the provincial government to make arrangements for the meeting of the mosques` expenditure, including those of utility bills and salary of prayer leaders.